The ebook is available now, but as Preston explained in his review, Amazon is responsible delaying the release of the Kindle edition:

Dear Readers,

Just to be absolutely clear about this: the delay in the Kindle release of Blue Labyrinth was entirely due to Amazon and had nothing to do with Hachette, despite Amazon's assertion to the contrary. Whether this was an honest mistake on Amazon's part or something else is not known. The problem seems to be taken care of now, and we hope Kindle sales will go smoothly from now on.

Thank you all for your patience and for being such loyal readers, which is much appreciated!

Warm regards, Doug Preston

Preston was responding to the double handful of one star reviews left by frustrated fans. That ebook was due to be released on 11 November, but for some unknown reason it was delayed until about 2 pm eastern on that day.

Ten readers took to the review section to voice their displeasure first thing Tuesday morning (out of approximately 150 reviews as of 13 November), and Preston responded today with a 5 star review which blamed Amazon.

The review has since been taken down by Amazon, but not before someone snagged a screenshot:

As you may recall, Doug Preston is the leader of Authors United, the nonpartisan authors group which formed to peacefully bring about a deal between Amazon and Hachette.

As a long time observer of publishing, I can assure you that all of Preston's statements have shared a similar balanced and nonpartisan viewpoint.

Like this:

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Nate Hoffelder is the founder and editor of The Digital Reader:"I've been into reading ebooks since forever, but I only got my first ereader in July 2007. Everything quickly spiraled out of control from there. Before I started this blog in January 2010 I covered ebooks, ebook readers, and digital publishing for about 2 years as a part of MobileRead Forums. It's a great community, and being a member is a joy. But I thought I could make something out of how I covered the news for MobileRead, so I started this blog."

I definitely would take any statement from Preston blaming Amazon with a grain to salt, though. He probably blames the small earthquake in Kansas yesterday on Amazon having shipping centers in the state.

I went straight to the page to check out the preview of this book, this precious gem of literature that had been so cruelly long withheld from the eager public. “It was a dark and stormy night,” it begins, or with words to that effect. Who could resist it?

I’m sure there are circumstances under which I might feel impelled to read it, but if god is fair I’ll never encounter them.

Sadly, the entire world didn’t receive that favor…only those in the U.S. There was a quote attributed to Dorothy Parker (apocryphal) which seems appropriate: “This is not a novel to be thrown aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.” 😀

I’ve been following this book awaiting its release. This title was available at Google first for $6.49 then the price increased to $9.09 . Amazon initially had it priced at $12.99 but has since matched Google’s $9.09 price.

Very true, there is no limit to the wickedness of the arch-villain Beelzebezos! Preston’s fans were forced to wait an additional 10.5 hours to view this eagerly awaited tome. That’s why Preston deigned to visit the oppressor’s foul website, to offer warm greetings to his doting readers, and to offer comfort in their hour of need. That he offered his comfort through a 5-star “review” on his own book, an act that violated Damazon’s review policy…that was of no matter. Those rules didn’t apply to D. Preston, Esq. He IS Robin Hood, poaching in the king’s forest, robbing from the rich Beelzebezos, and giving to the Preston-Book-Deprived poor!

Robin Hood: Robin Hood laughs in the face of all. Hah, hah, haaa. The Doctor: And do people ever punch you in the face when you do that? Robin Hood: Not as yet. The Doctor: Lucky I’m here, then, isn’t it? -Doctor Who – Robot of Sherwood

Preston wakes up and checks Amazon and is shocked! Shocked I tell you, that his books isn’t available.

Waits until business hours to call his agent. Agent says he’ll look into it immediately.

Agent gets a cup of coffee, reads his emails, chats up the PA, checks out Facebook, Twitter, looks for a cute cat picture. Finally he checks Amazon, and calls his contact at the publisher. Publisher says he’ll look into it immediately.

Publisher gets a cup of coffee, reads his emails, chats up the PA, checks out Facebook, Twitter, looks for a cute cat picture. Finally he checks Amazon, and calls the IT guys. The IT guy says he’ll look into it immediately.

Publisher gets a cup of coffee, reads his emails, chats up the PA, checks out Facebook, Twitter, checks out a bunch of technical forums. Gets into a long conversation with co-geeks on the shirts from the APAC conference vs various SCI TV show uniforms. Finally he checks Amazon, discovers the ebook really isn’t there.

The IT guy then checks his logs, and other means of determining what’s happened to the book. Goes “Oh, S***” when he realises that they didn’t sent to book to Amazon. Sends the book to Amazon. Tells the Publisher guy that the book is at Amazon.

The Publisher tells the agent that the book has been at Amazon for a while.

The Agent calls Preston and tells him that the book has been at Amazon all this time.